Attitudes, perceptions, and aging knowledge of future law enforcement and recreation majors

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe present study assessed knowledge of aging, ageism, and attitudes toward aging in undergraduate recreation and law enforcement majors. Past research with psychology, social work, and nursing majors showed that greater knowledge of aging was related to fewer ageist attitudes and beliefs. The results showed that law enforcement students possessed greater knowledge of aging, and endorsed fewer ageist attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes than recreation majors. Correlations between knowledge of aging and subscales of the Fraboni Scale of Ageism were significant for both groups. Group differences were also noted on the ASD-Instrumentality subscale and FSA Discrimination subscale. The results suggest that the infusion of information on growth and development through the lifecycle was not evident for recreation majors. Discussion focuses on the importance of incorporating information about adulthood and aging and identifying other factors that may promote more positive attitudes toward older adults in these majors.